Wales will be playing 'the worst Australian team I have ever seen' this autumn, says Graham Henry

Coaching mastermind Henry, who guided New Zealand to World Cup glory, a thrashing of the 2005 Lions, Tri-Nations titles and an astonishingly high win record, piled into David Pocock, Israel Folau, Will Genia, Michael Hooper, Quade Cooper and company.

Sir Graham Henry has branded Wales’ opening autumn series opponents Australia the worst Wallaby team he has seen.

The tactical genius, who guided New Zealand to World Cup glory, a thrashing of the 2005 Lions, Tri-Nations titles and an astonishingly high win record, piled into David Pocock, Israel Folau, Will Genia, Michael Hooper, Quade Cooper and company.

“It’s probably the worst Australian team I have ever seen and that’s a real worry for the game. They are woeful,” rapped 70-year-old Henry.

“You want Australia playing rugby and you want Australia playing well.”

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The Wallabies made 141 tackles to Argentina’s 43 at the NIB Stadium but held on after getting off to a flyer by cashing in on Puma errors.

“The work ethic around our defence was a step forward and that’ll allow us to launch other things,” said Cheika.

“We tackled really well, worked hard for each other and when opportunities came we took them.”

Last autumn’s World Cup finalists had lost six in a row before beating South Africa and Argentina to move into second place in the Rugby Championship.

Unbeaten New Zealand have incredibly already bagged the southern hemisphere crown at the halfway stage of the tournament, putting the Springboks away 41-13 in Christchurch with a trademark second half onslaught.

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Kiwi great Sean Fitzpatrick shared Henry’s concerns about the All Blacks’ dominance of the rugby world following hefty wins over Wales, Australia, Argentina and South Africa.

“Their whole development process right from the grassroots, right through the provincial rugby into Super Rugby is focusing on making sure that the international team is the best it can be,” said the former New Zealand captain.

“There’s not many other unions, other nations, who have the luxury of that, and it’s creating a gulf, which is not good for the game as a whole, as a spectacle.”

Wallabies star David Pocock

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Meanwhile, to compound Australia’s problems, they have suffered a major blow ahead of their trip to South Africa and facing Argentina at Twickenham with back-row ace David Pocock ruled out of the rest of the Rugby Championship after suffering a broken hand in Perth.

Pocock will undergo surgery and s expected to be ruled out for anywhere between four to six weeks. He hopes to recover for the third Bledisloe Cup match against New Zealand, at Auckland’s Eden Park on October 22.